AI job aid, I-5 repairs and an Ebola warning. Your 5/21 Sacramento evening roundup
Gov. Gavin Newsom moved to prepare California workers for AI displacement while Caltrans announced weeks of overnight lane closures on I-5. Health officials also warned of a fast-moving Ebola outbreak in Africa.
Here are the top stories in the Sacramento region on Thursday, May 21.
- AI job assistance: Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order directing state agencies to build a policy framework to support workers, small businesses and communities at risk of displacement from artificial intelligence. The order tasks the Labor and Workforce Development Agency with producing a report within three months on how AI will disrupt the workforce and drafting regulations within the following six months.
- I-5 Construction: Northbound Interstate 5 south of Elk Grove will be reduced to one lane for emergency pavement repairs on weeknights beginning Thursday through June 30, Caltrans officials said. Crews will work from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. Monday through Friday at 19 locations between Lambert Road and an area south of Twin Cities Road near Mokelumne City. The $1.5 million project includes saw cutting, roadway excavation, paving and restriping.
- Ebola outbreak: A fast-moving Ebola outbreak in Congo and Uganda has produced 536 suspected cases and 134 suspected deaths, sparking fears of a possible pandemic. Former CDC chief Robert Redfield warned the outbreak could become “a very significant pandemic” and spread to Tanzania, southern Sudan and Rwanda. The Bundibugyo virus behind the outbreak has a 25% to 50% death rate and no available vaccine, and the U.S. State Department has ordered enhanced screening at Washington Dulles International Airport for travelers returning from affected countries.